Many places in this city had an air of strangeness about them.
Judging by the city's current state, no residents remained.
That in itself was hardly strange. After all, with the Lion-Ant-Bees running rampant, deserted cities were everywhere.
The only problem was that the city was too well preserved. It looked nothing like somewhere the Lion-Ant-Bees had invaded. Owl suspected the people might have learned in advance that the Lion-Ant-Bees were coming and evacuated beforehand.
Although the Lion-Ant-Bees were cruel and cold-blooded, they were creatures with a very clear purpose. If a city contained nothing they needed, they might well avoid entering it, so it was not impossible for a city to remain intact.
But there were other problems.
The fruit tree growing out of the old well in the square and the city's excessive cleanliness were both inexplicable.
That fruit tree gave him an intensely dangerous feeling. There was no telling what danger might arise if he ventured too close to it.
Even an inhabited city could not stay this clean, much less one whose people had all left. Under normal circumstances, every building should have been covered in a layer of dust.
Yet none of them were.
Owl landed on the roof of a house. Ahead stood a defensive wall, and behind it rose the grandest building in the city. He guessed that must be the City Lord's Manor.
This was common knowledge. The most lavish, magnificent building in a city was invariably the City Lord's Manor. Anyone who built a home more extravagant than that was practically courting death.
Owl leaped lightly onto the defensive wall, then looked into the City Lord's Manor.
Truth be told, this was his first time getting so close to a City Lord's Manor. In the past, he had only gazed at